Sport

Colm Cavanagh: For players, this week will be all about keeping things grounded and normal

Paul McConville

Paul McConville

Paul is the Irish News sports editor. He has worked for the newspaper since 2003 as a sub-editor and sports reporter. He also writes a weekly column on craft beer.

29/5/2021   Tyrones Team Talk At The Water Break    Picture  Seamus Loughran.
29/5/2021 Tyrones Team Talk At The Water Break Picture Seamus Loughran. 29/5/2021 Tyrones Team Talk At The Water Break Picture Seamus Loughran.

THE buzz and excitement is building. Banners and flags adorn lampposts and cars throughout the county, children have decorated every window possible with posters of good luck messages, the taxi for Sam is fueled and ready for the trip and it is so good to see it.

The game in prospect is set to be an absolute cracker and hopes are high that Sam Maguire will be crossing the border ‘home to Tyrone’ this weekend.

For the team this is the culmination of months of very hard work and we are seeing a meticulously laid out plan coming together at the best possible time.

Both teams have had very tough semi-finals and thankfully have come through unscathed so this week will be about protecting the players, getting them battle ready and hopefully they are doing something I was never personally capable of – enjoying it all.

It is obviously easier said than done. The lads will have their blinkers on this week and there is one focal point for them but I urge them all to look around a few times this week and see the joy and the pride they have brought to the county already. Young and old alike are restless with excitement, it has been a long time since the men of Tyrone carried Sam Maguire over the Blackwater River and the potential this year is tangible.

There has been plenty of chat over the past few weeks of Mayo having their ‘big game’ over them in beating Dublin, of curses still lingering over the team and of the time lag between their semi-final and the final.

I can safely say that none of these factors will come into play when the referee throws the ball in on Saturday evening. I was reminded this week that there isn’t one member of either the Mayo or Tyrone squad who have an All-Ireland medal at senior level.

Both teams have the same hunger to change that fact this weekend, only one team will – who? Who is going to stand up and be counted, who is going to leave absolutely everything they have in them out on that field and who is going to finally add the illustrious gold cross to their medal collection?

With Tyrone having only two short weeks to recover and prepare the turnaround time is limited.

The semi-final was as intense as it was immense, recovery over the subsequent days will have been of paramount importance. I think it is important for the whole squad this week to keep everything as normal and routine as possible.

The butterflies will start appearing in tummies towards the end of this week, try and keep things as settled as possible and sleep as routine as possible.

Towards the end of my career all I wanted in the run up to a match was my own bed; the thought of a night in a hotel meant I was guaranteed I wasn’t going to have a good night sleep, or any sleep at all.

This was nothing against the hotels (or my roommates) but I just found myself more rested and settled coming into a big game from home.

All I can hope for the boys is that they get plenty of rest and sleep for the rest of this week, they are going to need every ounce of energy they can muster up on Saturday evening.

I would expect that training this week has been about remaining consistent, keeping everything as is and preventing any chance of injuries occurring.

Determining game plans and watching match footage will be top of the list and each of the lads will go into Saturday knowing exactly what is expected of them and what they can expect of each other. The exciting part is that the depth and diversity across the Tyrone squad means that we, as supporters don’t know what to expect and even better than that, it means Mayo don’t really know what to expect either.

The team are capable of changing to plans B, C and D at the drop of a hat and that makes them very difficult to play against.

The impact from Tyrone’s bench in the semi-final was remarkable, I feel for the management trying to pick a starting team for this weekend but I feel that sticking to the same could be the answer. Having the likes of Cathal McShane and Darragh Canavan on the sidelines watching and analysing the game in front of them means that when they are called upon they know exactly what their role is and how to execute the game-plan.

Special mention must go to Peter Donnelly for the conditioning and physical readiness of the squad.

I know it is up to each individual to put the work in at training, in the gym and with rest but Peter’s expert guidance has to be commended, the lads literally look like they could run for days and are ready for anything thrown at them.

Croke Park remains at reduced capacity but for anyone lucky enough to get a ticket, I have no doubt it will sound like there are 82,000 people there, Mayo brought the noise and the atmosphere to their semi-final and helped their men over the line, I have no doubt the throat lozenge sales are up in Tyrone this week in anticipation of going one step louder and helping our lads over the finish line.

In answer to my previous question of who? Tyrone, that’s who!